Chapter 102
Shang Yu didn’t hear what Fu Suxi said at all.
The moment she finished her sentence, the instance opened.
She only saw Fu Suxi’s lips move. The next second, he vanished on the spot and entered the instance.
Shang Yu thought to herself, Minister Yu really dotes on Brother Yu too much. He was about to enter the instance himself, yet he was still worrying about Brother Yu’s safety over there.
While mulling it over, she ran toward the spot where she had separated from Yu Zhi and the others earlier.
On the way, she ran into several squads of armed soldiers rushing over. Shang Yu immediately showed her credentials and issued rapid-fire orders:
“No one is allowed to approach the temporary resettlement area.”
“One squad, go assist the ability users dispersing the nearby crowd—Zuo Feiyang and Lin Xiangyuan.”
“Another squad, notify headquarters. Lock down the five surrounding blocks centered on the temporary resettlement area. Other than the Special Operations Bureau, no one is allowed near. And you few, go—”
“Yes, ma’am.”
…………
On the other side, Yu Zhi stood by a wall, looking from a distance toward the direction of the temporary resettlement area.
The earlier bloodcurdling screams had disappeared.
Now, what echoed in the air were continuous alarm sirens and the chaotic cries of people on the streets.
Soldiers soon arrived as well, evacuating the surrounding crowd in an orderly manner.
[User “World’s No.1 Cute Girl” urges you to find your temporary lover and tipped you 20 universal coins.]
[User “momo” looks forward to the pollution instance inside the safe zone and tipped you 20 universal coins.]
[User “Cyber Bodhisattva” appreciates the panic and chaos caused by the pollution instance and hopes you enter soon.]
[User “Rich Young Master Domineering Cool” supports your decision and tipped you 0.1 universal coins.]
Yu Zhi lowered his gaze at the scrolling comments, his expression unmoved.
As expected—it was a pollution instance.
He took out the pollution concentration detector and looked at the reading.
[Pollution Concentration: 2%]
He stared at it for a full minute. The number did not change.
Yu Zhi slowly let out a breath. The pollution concentration hadn’t surged, and the commotion from the temporary resettlement area had abruptly stopped.
This was most likely a restricted-area pollution instance.
Suddenly, among the evacuated crowd in the distance, a middle-aged woman ran against the flow. With red-rimmed eyes, she rushed forward but was stopped by several soldiers.
“You can’t go any further.”
She struggled to break free, screaming hoarsely, “My daughter and grandson are inside—”
“She has trouble walking! She can’t run by herself!”
Soldier: “We’ll do our best to rescue people. You—”
But the woman couldn’t hear them anymore. Her mind was filled only with her family.
“Are you even rescuing anyone? No one’s going in over there!”
“Isn’t this supposed to be a safe zone? How can there be monsters in a safe zone? When we were outside, we didn’t run into any monsters—!”
Her sharp, anguished voice carried clearly into the ears of everyone nearby.
Yu Zhi saw the once orderly evacuating crowd begin to grow restless.
Most ordinary people had never entered a pollution zone. They knew nothing about pollution zones, pollution sources, or pollutants. Their understanding was limited to the system’s broadcast footage of the five continents.
A restricted-area instance and the outside world were practically two separate spaces. From the outside, the temporary resettlement area looked almost unchanged.
The buildings were intact. No pollutants were visible. The only obvious difference was that the area was completely empty.
The soldiers were only responsible for evacuation and didn’t know the specifics. The Special Operations Bureau already had a bad reputation within the safe zone. With various factors piling up, some uninformed people grew increasingly agitated, the noise rising wave after wave.
“What kind of monster is it?”
“No idea. Didn’t see anything—just heard someone shouting.”
“Let’s go already. Don’t stand around like idiots in a horror movie.”
“Wait… what if there isn’t actually a monster?”
“So even the safe zone isn’t safe…”
“Bang! Bang! Bang—”
Three consecutive gunshots rang into the sky.
The noisy crowd instantly fell silent and looked in terror toward the source of the shots.
Yu Zhi raised his eyes and saw that at some point, Shang Yu had put on the Bureau’s black combat uniform. She raised her voice:
“Anyone obstructing the evacuation will be treated as a suspicious and dangerous individual.”
As her words fell, no one dared say another word. They obediently followed the soldiers and left.
The middle-aged woman who had tried to rush in rolled her eyes back and fainted on the spot. The soldiers carried her to the roadside.
Doctor Qi hurried over to examine her. “No physical issues. It’s probably just psychological shock.”
He told the soldiers, “Take her away first.”
Shang Yu quickly walked over to Yu Zhi and said in a low voice, “Brother Yu, Minister Yu entered the instance alone.”
“He told you to leave immediately and wait for him somewhere safe.”
Yu Zhi suspected he’d misheard. “???”
Leave immediately?
Wait somewhere safe?
And wait for him?
Those words could come out of that mad dog Fu Suxi’s mouth?
Yu Zhi hesitated. “He told me to leave?”
Shang Yu nodded.
“He said it personally?”
Shang Yu nodded, then shook her head. “The instance suddenly opened halfway through what he was saying. He only got out three words: ‘Tell Yu You—’”
“I think he definitely meant for you to go somewhere safe and wait for him.”
Yu Zhi fell silent.
So it was just Shang Yu’s imagination.
He guessed the unheard second half wasn’t telling him to leave—it was telling him to hurry into the instance.
He didn’t bother correcting her and instead asked, “What are you planning to do?”
Shang Yu replied, “Minister Yu told me to follow the normal procedure for clearing a pollution source.”
Knowing Yu Zhi wasn’t familiar with the Bureau’s process, she explained briefly:
“Evacuate the crowd, seal off the surrounding area, conduct a preliminary survey of the pollution zone, and assign an appropriate ability-user team to eliminate the pollution source.”
“But this time the pollution zone is restricted and locked. We can’t survey it or assign specific ability types. We’ll have to see which team arrives first.”
As they spoke, all the civilians had been evacuated. The once lively street was now empty, left in eerie silence.
Soon, two armored vehicles appeared at the intersection and sped toward Shang Yu.
He Hanhai and his team got out of one of them.
He scanned the area. Not seeing Fu Suxi beside Yu Zhi, his expression changed. “Minister Yu entered the instance alone?”
Shang Yu nodded.
He Hanhai immediately turned to his teammates. “Prepare to enter the instance.”
Shang Yu glanced at them. She didn’t know the specifics of their abilities but knew none of them were healers.
She turned to Doctor Qi. “Old Qi, you’ll have to go in this time.”
“Alright.” Doctor Qi nodded and strode to the other armored vehicle to gear up with firearms and ammunition.
Shang Yu handed He Hanhai and the others a floor plan of the temporary resettlement area and briefly instructed them to rescue any survivors inside if possible.
Yu Zhi watched their swift, decisive actions, then glanced at the time.
Fifteen minutes had passed since the instance opened.
Fu Suxi still hadn’t come out.
Yu Zhi walked over to He Hanhai and asked bluntly, “How long does he usually take to clear a pollution source?”
He Hanhai was loading ammunition. Hearing the question, he paused, then realized Yu Zhi meant Fu Suxi.
“In B City, the fastest was about a dozen minutes. Slower runs took over half an hour.”
“But during those instances, Minister Fu—Minister Yu—used a large amount of explosives. It seemed there were no survivors.”
“This time will probably take longer.”
Yu Zhi understood the unspoken implication.
This time, they needed to rescue survivors while also stopping Fu Suxi from recklessly using explosives—and prevent him from going berserk inside the pollution zone.
Troublesome.
Yu Zhi was about to speak when Shang Yu suddenly stepped in front of him.
“Brother Yu, I can have the spare armored vehicle take you away. Do you want to go back to headquarters? Or wait outside the perimeter for Minister Yu?”
Yu Zhi reminded her, “This pollution zone might be connected to Meteorite Biotech.”
Hearing that, Shang Yu and He Hanhai exchanged a look. Their expressions darkened.
Yu Zhi lifted his eyelids and looked toward the temporary resettlement area.
The timing of this instance wasn’t early or late. The location wasn’t far or near. It just happened right under his nose.
If not for Jiang Shengnan and the invitation, he might have chalked it up to Fu Suxi’s protagonist halo.
But now, Meteorite Biotech didn’t know Fu Suxi’s true identity—yet they were extremely interested in him.
This pollution instance felt like it had been deliberately staged for him to see.
Yu Zhi couldn’t help frowning.
If it really was because of him, then he had to enter the instance.
If it wasn’t…
He hesitated for a moment, then chose not to gamble.
He would enter.
With Fu Suxi inside, and with Fu Suxi caring about the entire safe zone, the pollution source would surely be cleared quickly.
Freeloading a dungeon reward wouldn’t be a loss, right?
Thinking of that, Yu Zhi said to Shang Yu, “I’m not leaving.”
“I’m entering the pollution instance.”
Shang Yu hadn’t reacted yet when Lu Liming rushed over.
“I’m going too! Brother Yu, I’ll go with you!”
Yu Zhi was stunned and turned to look at him.
Lu Liming winked. “I get it, Brother Yu. You’re not doing this to save the world.”
Yu Zhi: “…”
Lu Liming grinned. “You just want to suffer a bit.”
Yu Zhi: “…………”
Shang Yu looked at him, then at Lu Liming. She didn’t try to stop them.
“Alright.”
“You and Xiao Ming go get weapons.”
Yu Zhi walked to the armored vehicle and watched Lu Liming grab guns and ammunition. He hesitated and asked the others, “How much can I take?”
He Hanhai immediately replied, “As much as you can carry without affecting mobility.”
As much as possible?
Yu Zhi’s eyes lit up. “Are you all done taking yours?”
Everyone nodded.
“Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he stored the entire armored vehicle into [My Items].
He Hanhai fell silent.
That was truly not standing on ceremony.
A moment later, he cleared his throat. “With Minister Yu absent, I’ll temporarily serve as team leader.”
As he spoke, he strode toward the temporary resettlement area.
“The instance restricts the area, so priority is clearing the pollution source. Rescue survivors second.”
Yu Zhi walked at the rear of the team and glanced at the pollution concentration detector.
[Pollution Concentration: 2%]
Even as they approached, the reading didn’t increase.
Time and distance had no effect on the external pollution level. A restricted-area instance barely affected the outside world.
Yu Zhi thoughtfully put the detector away.
Twenty meters from the resettlement area.
Fifteen meters.
Ten meters.
They hadn’t even fully stepped inside—just reached the sidewalk outside the residential complex—when a crisp system notification rang out in the air.
“Ding-dong—”
At the same time, the mission details popped up on everyone’s system panels.
[Instance Mission: Raising My Head, I Gaze at the Bright Moon.]
[Objective: Eliminate or purify the pollution source in the current area. Defend S City!]
[Reward: 5000 universal coins; Random reward blind box x1.]
[Failure: Unknown.]
Before Yu Zhi could read further, he saw He Hanhai and the others walking ahead suddenly disappear.
His expression changed. He immediately turned his head.
The good news: he wasn’t alone.
The bad news: the two ability users beside him were both healers.
Lu Liming and Doctor Qi.
The three of them stared at each other.
Doctor Qi fell into silence. Lu Liming had healing abilities. Brother Yu’s abilities were related to space and prophecy.
In other words, their three-man team had zero offensive capability.
Lu Liming, however, was the most excited of the three. He enthusiastically patted Doctor Qi on the shoulder.
“Master Qi, you’re pretty lucky! You got matched with me and Brother Yu!”
